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Monday, September 5, 2016

Konstantin Dolgov on forced disappearances and secret detentions of civilians in Ukraine

Ukraine

29 August 201618:17

Comment
by Konstantin Dolgov, Russian Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights,
Democracy and the Rule of Law on forced disappearances and secret detentions of
civilians in Ukraine

1496-29-08-2016

During the past month, human rights
activists have reported information attesting to Ukraine’s systematic practice
of subjecting civilians, including women, to lengthy and arbitrary detentions,
with the direct involvement of the Ukrainian Security Service (USS). This
information is cited, in particular, in the materials of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International published on August
28, 2016.

These international NGOs write that
civilians being secretly and illegally kept in USS facilities are subjected to
torture, inhuman and degrading treatment (beatings, electric shocks, threats of
rape and shooting, and reprisals against family members) are denied access to
medical assistance or legal representation, and contact with relatives or the
outside world in general.

The forced disappearances and secret
detentions carried out by the USS are serious crimes and constitute a flagrant
violation of international norms by the Ukrainian authorities, including the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. To this day, no one has been held accountable for
these crimes despite the evidence provided by people released by the USS. This
is an outrageous fact, which confirms that Ukraine has become a lawless
country.

We have repeatedly drawn the
attention of the international human rights community to the scale of the
abuses in Ukraine.

Particularly troubling is the absence
of any response by Ukraine to the inquiry of the Russian Foreign Ministry of
June 28, 2016 regarding the precise number of Russian citizens kept in
pre-trial detention centres and other places of confinement in Ukraine. There
is every reason to suspect that some have been tortured.

We believe that the Ukrainian
government and law enforcement should document all instances of illegal
detentions of civilians and inhuman and degrading treatment, conduct a thorough
and impartial investigation, and bring those responsible to justice.

We reiterate our demand for
unhindered consular access to all Russian citizens detained or held on
Ukrainian territory without due notification of Russian diplomatic and consular
authorities.

We urge international human rights
organisations, including the UN Human Rights Council, the Council of Europe and
the OSCE, to pressure the Ukrainian authorities to abandon
these illegal practices and to hold the guilty parties accountable.

assange

At midday on Friday 5 February, 2016 Julian Assange, John Jones QC, Melinda Taylor, Jennifer Robinson and Baltasar Garzon will be speaking at a press conference at the Frontline Club on the decision made by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the Assange case.